Apparatus for handling individually packaged goods The invention relates to an apparatus for handling individually packaged goods according to the preamble of claim 1. Here, handling is understood to mean separating and/or aligning and/or sorting and/or storing individually packaged goods, which are fed and discharged by transport means. Individually packaged goods are, amongst others, packages, packets, bundles of periodicals, containers, pallets and sack-like goods. The individually packaged goods are fed either unordered and lying beside one another, preprocessing ensuring that no individually packaged goods lie on one another, or the individually packaged goods are fed in separately at defined intervals. Following handling by the apparatus, the individually packaged goods are discharged in an ordered fashion to further processing. The ordered discharge can be used to produce a specific order (sequence) of the individually packaged goods at the output from the aforementioned arrangement, said sequence being necessary or advantageous for further processing.
According to the current prior art, there is no apparatus which carries out the functions of separation, alignment, storage, sorting including sequencing in a space-saving manner with little outlay. EP 780328 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,938 describe separating devices for packages. The disadvantages of these known solutions are their great requirement for space, in particular overall length, and uncertain separation in the case of packages of different sizes. Aligning individually packaged goods at right angles to the conveying direction during transport by means of specific roller conveyors is prior art.
The sorting of individually packaged goods is at present implemented by means of various types of special techniques, which are all based on a linear or circular transport direction.
The following solutions may be mentioned: tilt tray sorters (see company publications from Crisplant A. S., Beumer K G), transverse belt sorters (see Sandvik, Crisplant A. S), pusher sorters (Sandvik, Lippert), shoe sorters (Dematic, TGW), popup sorters (Van der Lande; Dematic).
At present, individually packaged goods are stored or intermediately stored manually or with mechanical support (by being stacked on the floor, stored in racks by using fork-lift trucks), partly automated (in so-called straight-through stores, with manual or automatic loading), or fully automated in high-rack stores, which are loaded and emptied automatically by rack operating devices.
The invention specified in claim 1 is therefore based on the object of providing an apparatus for space-saving handling, which separates and/or aligns and/or stores and/or sorts the individually packaged goods, including doing so in accordance with a defined sequence. The array-like arrangement of the conveying means which convey the individually packaged goods in one plane in four directions at right angles to one another, and also the identification and continuous tracking of the individually packaged goods on the array area creates the precondition for moving and aligning the individually packaged goods freely without collision. The input or inputs and output or outputs are located at the edges of the array area. The movement is carried out in accordance with the handling to be carried out. If, for example, at an input individually packaged goods to be separated are transported onto the array area close beside one another and behind one another, then, following the determination of the orientation of the individually packaged goods, one item after the other is transported to an output with a defined spacing by means of specific activation of the conveying means needed for this purpose, alignment of the individually packaged goods at the same time being possible. If the individually packaged goods are to be sorted, then images of the individually packaged goods are recorded and the handling information, in this case addresses, is determined as sorting information. The transport to the outputs envisaged in accordance with the sorting plan is then carried out. During these transporting actions, which if possible are also carried out in parallel, continuous tracking of each individual item is carried out, so that the movements can be carried out in a defined and collision-free manner. If intermediate storage is necessary for the sequence, this is readily possible. The individually packaged goods can be stored intermediately, as required, both in a specific storage area and decentrally, it being possible for the store to be enlarged or reduced dynamically, and access to the stored individually packaged items is as desired, with high variability of the storage strategy.
The handling apparatus is therefore functionally very flexible and at the same time very compact.
Advantageous refinements of the invention are presented in the subclaims.
If the conveying means according to claim 2 is designed with a spherical transport part, which is mounted without a fixed axis and, for example, is driven electromechanically in such a way that the direction can be selected freely, then it is possible to accommodate many conveying means on a specific array area and, as a result of the free choice of direction, to cover the shortest possible distances with the individually packaged goods.
It is also advantageous, according to claim 3, to include the conveying speed and the acceleration and braking pattern in the control, in order in this way to be able to coordinate movement operations better with one another and to minimize the transport times of the individually packaged goods on the array area.
According to claim 4, it is advantageous to use a sensor device which records the height profile, in addition to the image recording and evaluating device, for the reliable identification and separation of the individually packaged goods, for example if they are adjacent to one another.
In order to track the movement of the individually packaged goods, it may also be advantageous, according to claim 5, to equip the conveying means with pressure sensors, which detect whether there is an item on the conveying means.